It has been previously proposed to increase the density of ion exchange resins by brominating the polymer backbone to which the active exchange sites are attached. The method is costly and generally results in reducing the overall capacity of the resin. The principal benefit to be derived from increasing the density is that such weighted resin is able to withstand faster flow rates during upflow in an exchange column without having resin particles become entrained in the fluid upflow. In addition to the flow rate upwardly in the resin column, the viscosity of the fluid is also determinative of the amount of resin entrainment.
There is a need for ion exchange resins which have increased density which permit faster upflow rates of fluids through the resin without encountering detrimental amounts of entrainment of resin particles in the fluid.
It is an object of the present invention to fill the need for such higher density ion exchange resins.
A further object is to provide higher density ion exchange resins for use with fluids having relatively high or substantial viscosities.
Yet another object is to provide weighted ion exchange resins wherein the weighting ingredient does not substantially lessen the exchange capacity of the ion exchange resin.
Still other objects will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure.